Longtime Boston-area power-popper Todd Thibaud is streaming half of his new album, Broken, on his MySpace page. No official release date has been set for the record, but Thibaud will be selling copies at live shows starting next week. The new material is a mix of quiet acoustic numbers and sturdy Americana, with a voice reminiscent of Peter Searcy (of Squirrel Bait) or Glen Phillips (of Toad the Wet Sprocket).

Besides being known for their verbose band name, Dent May and crew will be touring with both A.C. Newman and Animal Collective in 2009. A new addition to the Paw Tracks roster, Dent May is a tad less experimental than his labelmates. But his folk songs use just enough texture to show a depth which is far beyond the twee aesthetic. Here is a track off his their new album The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele recorded in May’s double-wide trailer in Mississippi.

Easy Star All-Stars have previously recorded critically acclaimed reggae tributes to Pink Floyd (Dub Side of the Moon, 2003) and Radiohead (Radiodread, 2006). Michael Keefe went so far as to call the band’s “seriously dubby paranoia is the reggae of the new millennium.” They are following up those popular efforts with a new take on the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band releases on April 14th and will include an impressive array of guest artists, including Steel Pulse, Matisyahu, Michael Rose (Black Uhuru), Luciano, U Roy, Bunny Rugs (Third World), Ranking Roger (English Beat), Sugar Minott, Frankie Paul, Max Romeo and The Mighty Diamonds. Check out the first single “With a Little Help From My Friends”. It features Luciano and is releasing exclusively on iTunes along with a B-side dub version featuring the legendary U Roy.

Glasgow’s Popup are a new addition to Conor Oberst’s Team Love Records. Sounding like the result of a drunken bathroom hookup between Arab Strap and the Pixies, Popup have made the best song about Siamese Twins in love you’re likely to hear this week. Not to overstate things. But, as LeVar Burton might say, don’t take our word for it. Check out their brand spankin’ new video for “Love Triangle”.

Synecdoche, New York was PopMatters’ #3 film of 2008. Erik Hinton called it “brilliant and insane film at its best.” Chris Barsanti piled on the praise in an October “Screener” column: “Charlie Kaufman comes closer to creating a kind of cinematic magic realism than any American director has done in living memory. And it’s only his first film.” So, needless to say, we’re looking forward to the DVD release on March 10th.